Daylight
by turtleback
Summary: Multi-chapter AU that starts right before Jane and Maura start working together. Maura has just moved to Boston to take the Chief Medical Examiner job with her ten year old son. With some help from Maura's son, Jane and Maura meet and start to get to know each other. Chapter 7 posted.
1. Chapter 1

**Daylight**

Chapter 1

Pairing: Jane/Maura  
Rating: T  
Disclaimer: Jane Rizzoli and Maura Isles do not belong to me.

_**A/N:** I'm honestly not really sure where this idea came from. I think it's a little different from my usual and I'm going to see where it goes. It's a multi-chapter AU and starts right before Jane and Maura start working together. Maura has just moved to Boston to take the Chief Medical Examiner job with her ten year old son._

* * *

Detective Jane Rizzoli arrived at her apartment building after work and found a kid, probably ten or eleven years old, playing in the small yard outside the building with a football. He was tossing it in the air and catching it and then running around as if tacklers were pursuing him.

"Hey buddy, do your parents know you're out here?" Jane asked as she entered the yard.

"Yeah, my mom is right in there," he answered, pointing to the first floor windows on the left side of the building.

"Okay," Jane said, knowing he was pointing to an apartment that had been empty for a few weeks and assuming his family had just moved into the building.

"Do you know if there are any other kids who live around here?" he asked.

Jane smiled. "Uh, no, I'm not sure. I don't know any," she answered. She knew there weren't any kids in any of the other six units in their building, but she really didn't pay close attention to know about the rest of the neighborhood.

"Oh," he said, clearly disappointed.

"I could toss the football around with you a little bit if you wanted though," Jane offered. He looked unsure and she added, "My name is Jane. I live on the the third floor."

"Do you play football?" he asked and Jane realized his apprehension was probably not because she was a stranger and an adult, but because she was a girl.

"Of course," she answered and held up her hands in front of her chest, indicating he could pass her the football.

He threw her the ball and she caught it easily and threw it back to him in a passable spiral. He caught it Jane figured she passed the test because he smiled and said, "My name's Billy," as he threw the football back to her.

After a few passes back and forth, he asked, "Do you have a favorite team?"

"Patriots, of course," Jane answered. "What about you?"

"49ers," he answered.

"I guess they're pretty good," Jane said playfully.

"Yeah, they went to the Super Bowl last year, but they lost. Did you watch it?" he asked.

"I did. I was routing for the 49ers in that game."

"My mom took me to a game last year. It was against the Bears. The 49ers won that game."

Before Jane could respond to that, the front door of the building open behind her and a woman's voice said, "William?"

"Mom, did you see that catch?"

"What are you doing out here? You know you have to ask me before you leave the apartment."

"I was bored. I want to play outside," Billy whined.

"I'm sorry, I didn't know he wasn't supposed to be outside," Jane said as she made her way over to the building's front steps. "I live on the third floor. I saw him playing alone when I got home. He said you knew he was out here but I figured it was better to have someone keeping an eye on him."

"Thank you for looking out for him. I was unpacking and I didn't realize he came outside."

"Sure, it's no problem. I'm Jane Rizzoli." Jane held out her hand as she introduced herself and took the opportunity to take a closer look at her new neighbor. She wearing light linen pants and a loose short sleeve top and her hair was pulled back into a ponytail. She looked casual but she was more dressed up than Jane would have been for moving or unpacking.

The woman took Jane's outstretched hand. "Maura Isles."

The name was familiar and Jane quickly realized where she had heard it before. "Dr. Maura Isles?"

"Yes. How did you know that?" Maura asked, obviously surprised.

"I'm a homicide detective with the Boston PD," Jane answered. "You're the new medical examiner, right? I got a memo about you the other day."

"Yes, Chief Medical Examiner."

"What a coincidence. I guess we'll be seeing a lot of each other. When do you start working?"

"In two weeks I think. I want to get Will started in school when the school year starts and make sure his schedule is all set before I start working. Speaking of schedules," she said and turned to Billy who was still playing in the yard. "Will, it's time to come inside for dinner."

"Already? Can I please play a little longer?" Billy asked, although, Jane noted, he was already walking towards them to the stairs, anticipating his mother's response.

Maura rubbed her hand over his head and patted his back as he passed by them. "Sorry sweetie. I need you to clean up and eat. I'm sure Detective Rizzoli has things she needs to do tonight too and we should let her get to them." As they all walked inside she said, "Will, is there something you want to say to Detective Rizzoli?"

He turned around, smiled, and said, "Thanks for playing, Jane," before running inside his apartment while dodging pretend tacklers.

"Thank you again," Maura said. "He really loves football and I don't have the same ball handling skills you do."

"Ball handling skills?" Jane said with a small laugh as she walked Maura to her apartment door. "It was really no problem. I had fun," Jane assured her. "Let me know if you need anything at all as you get settled. Or if you have any questions about working with BPD, I'd be happy to talk with you about that too."

"Thank you," Maura repeated sincerely.

Jane went upstairs to her apartment and once inside she looked at her hands. She flexed them a few times, extending her fingers out fully, and then massaged each palm around the scar. They felt a little stiff, maybe a little sore, but they didn't hurt. She went to the bathroom and took two ibuprofen just in case. More importantly, she hadn't even thought about her hands before offering to play catch with Billy. It was only after catching the ball and throwing it back the first time that she had realized it was the first time she had touched a football since her injury.

* * *

A few days later Jane came home after spending most of the previous forty-eight hours working on a case. When she entered the apartment building, the first floor apartment door flew open and Billy rushed out saying, "Hi Jane. Wanna play football again?"

Maura was right behind him ready to apologize, but Jane just smiled at both of them and said, "Sure. Let me just go change and then we can play, okay?"

Billy ran inside the apartment to get his football and Maura said, "You really don't have to play with him. I'm sure you have things to do."

"I'm happy to," Jane responded. "There's a park about a block and half from here with more room to play and run around. If you've got some free time now, we could all go over there."

Maura smiled at the suggestion. "Alright. I'll go get ready too and we'll meet you outside."

Ten minutes later they were walking to the park. Jane had changed into shorts and a t-shirt. Maura was dressed similarly to the day they had met but she carrying a huge bag.

"You know we're going to the park for like an hour, right? We're not moving there," Jane joked when she saw the bag.

"I know, but I like to be prepared. I brought water, sunblock and a blanket. Oh, and a first aid kit."

Jane just laughed. When they got there Jane directed them to an open section of grass. "Are you going to play today?" she asked Maura.

Maura was already taking a seat on a nearby bench. "I think I'll just watch."

Jane and Billy threw the ball back and forth for a few minutes and then he decided he wanted Jane to be the quarterback and he would play wide receiver. Jane asked him if he knew anything about the basic receiver routes and he said no. So they crouched on the ground and Jane traced routes with her finger on the grass and explained what each one was.

Then Billy lined up to her left and Jane said, "Okay, let's try a post route. Go." He ran straight ahead for several yards and then diagonally towards where the center of the end zone on the football would be.

Jane threw the ball and he caught it in stride and then immediately ran towards Maura saying, "Mom, did you see that?"

Maura was already clapping and said enthusiastically, "That was fantastic."

He ran over to Jane who held her hand up for a high five and then said, "Ready to go again?" He gave her the ball and lined up again. "Let's run the slant," Jane said and he took off.

Once again he caught her pass but this time he ran right back to Jane, flipped her the ball, lined up, and said, "Ready."

They kept going, with Jane calling out corner, quick out, hook, slant, or post routes for each throw. There were dropped balls and some mis-throws on Jane's part, but after a little while after each catch Billy started doing different touchdown celebrations with each one before returning the ball to Jane. Maura continued to cheer each catch.

They continued playing until Maura noticed Jane was rubbing her left hand after each throw. She got up and walked over to where Jane was standing and for the first time noticed the scars on Jane's hands.

"Ready to join in?" Jane asked her.

"Oh. No. Not yet anyway," Maura answered. "I think it's time for us to get going though. It's almost dinner time."

"Jane, can you come over for dinner?" Billy asked.

Maura had come to the conclusion this afternoon that she didn't need to make any excuses for Jane and she could answer for herself, but this time Jane said, "It really depends on if that's okay with your Mom. I don't want to intrude on whatever she has planned for tonight."

"Oh, of course you're welcome to have dinner with us," Maura said.

"There's a pizza place on our walk back. Why don't we just get some food there? That's easy, right?" Jane suggested, but then realized when she saw Maura's face that she shouldn't have suggested that without running it by Maura first.

"Yeah, Mom, can we get pizza?" Billy chipped in.

"I suppose that would work for tonight," Maura agreed. Jane mouthed "sorry" silently to her, but Maura just smiled at Jane and said, "It's fine. It's a good idea."

Jane showed them to the restaurant and Maura took care of ordering the pizza, along with a salad for herself, and insisted on paying for the food. They brought the food back to Maura and Billy's apartment, which Jane thought looked pretty well organized for only having moved in less than a week ago, although Maura apologized for the mess.

While they ate, Billy recited a steady stream of San Francisco 49ers facts to Jane. When he was done eating, Maura sent Billy off to clean himself up and change into pajamas.

While helping to clean up dishes, Jane said, "Hey, sorry if pizza wasn't a good recommendation. I shouldn't have said anything without knowing what your food preferences are. I forget that you can't really say stuff like that in front of kids without following through."

"It's fine. I've been trying as best as I can to keep our regular routine since moving and we've been doing pretty well. One night with pizza as a treat is good. And you are so good with him. I really can't thank you enough for playing with him so much."

Jane shrugged. "Like I said before, it's fun for me too."

"Still, it's very kind of you to take so much time to play with him and I really appreciate it. Maybe…maybe if you have time in the next week, I could make you dinner and you can tell me a little bit about what to expect working with the Boston Police Department?"

"Sure, anytime. Where did you work before anyway?" Jane asked.

"I was an Assistant Medical Examiner in San Francisco."

"And you chose to leave there for Massachusetts?"

"You don't like Boston?" Maura asked.

Jane shook her head. "I love Boston. I grew up here. I've never lived anywhere else and I don't plan on leaving. But people are always leaving here for California. You don't hear about the other way around too often."

"This job was a great opportunity. As the Chief M.E., I have more control over my own schedule and hopefully won't be away from home as much as I was before, especially overnight. And we'll be somewhat closer to my parents. They spend most of their time in Europe and San Francisco was a long trip from there. I'm hoping they'll see Will more often now."

"How often did they see him before?" Jane asked.

"Once a year usually. Maybe twice depending on their travel schedules and if we traveled to them. They Skype with him every once in a while too."

"Damn," Jane said with a laugh. "If I had a kid, my mother would practically move in with me. I'd never get rid of her."

"They were not exactly what you might call hands-on parents and I don't think they really know how to interact with kids. I was an only child and I suppose I was fairly independent so I don't think I demanded much from them. But now that Will is getting older I think they might do better."

Jane couldn't quite imagine how a child could be independent but she didn't know how to respond to that so she said, "Where did you grow up?"

"I primarily lived in Europe and New York City as a child, but actually I was born in Boston. I don't remember anything about living here though. We moved away when I was only two. One of the reasons I was interested in this job was the chance to get to know Boston."

They lapsed into a moment of silence until Jane said, "Well, I should go and get out of your way." She started moving towards the door as she said, "Thanks for dinner and anytime you want to get together just let me know. I mean, I'm happy to answer any questions you have about BPD or whatever."

Maura followed Jane to the door. "Thank you. I'll let you know."

"Tell Billy I said goodnight and I'll talk to you soon."

Jane left and went up to her apartment. She took a couple of ibuprofen and collapsed into bed, thinking as she drifted off to sleep that she was far too interested in her new neighbor.


	2. Chapter 2

**Daylight**

Chapter 2

Pairing: Jane/Maura  
Rating: T  
Disclaimer: Jane Rizzoli and Maura Isles do not belong to me.

* * *

Maura spent the next week unpacking and organizing, getting Will registered for school and after school activities, and interviewing potential part time nannies. In San Francisco, she had someone who watched him after school and several people who were on call when she worked late or got called in the middle of the night. With her new position, which allowed her to set her own schedule and schedules and assignments for district medical examiners, she hoped to limit the number of evenings and nights she would have to work. But she still needed someone to watch him in the afternoon and people she could rely on for other times she did have to work.

Mostly she had tried to keep busy during the past week because when she wasn't occupied, she was plagued with doubts about moving to Boston. It was a good move for her professionally, a promotion to Chief Medical Examiner for the entire state of Massachusetts. A similar position likely wouldn't have been open to her for years in San Francisco. And she wasn't leaving anything behind in her personal life. But she worried about moving William across the country, away from friends and the support system she had established for him and that had worked for them for ten years.

The move had been relatively sudden too. The Governor's office had pursued her and offered her the job over a period of about six months, but Maura had waited until the last possible minute before deciding to accept the position. That only left them with a few weeks to pack and move in time to be settled in before the new school year started. Much of her time prior to the move was spent getting William into a private school that he would be able to continue attending through high school. She found an apartment close to her office, deciding to wait until she knew the city better before finding a more permanent home.

For his part, Will had been treating the whole thing like a great adventure. He was outgoing in a way she had never been and it still surprised her how easy it was for him to simply talk to people and how capable he was at making friends. Although she was always nervous for him, unable to put aside her own feelings of anxiety about new social situations, she also didn't really doubt that he would make new friends at school without any problems.

There were some people she supposed she could call friends in San Francisco, mostly parents of Will's friends, but she didn't feel particularly close to any of them. They weren't people in whom she confided. In fact, she had probably revealed as much personal information to Jane in two conversations than she had to anyone else in years. Jane was just like her son, outgoing and inquisitive without it feeling intrusive. Having a friendship with a co-worker would be unusual for her too. The people she worked with in San Francisco certainly respected her and she knew she was excellent at her job, but she wouldn't have considered any of them to be friends.

Maura couldn't deny that Jane interested her from the moment she saw her playing with her son. Jane had been wearing jeans and a button down shirt with sleeves rolled up to her elbows and Maura thought she had looked simply gorgeous. When they had dinner, Maura noticed Jane rubbing her hands again and for the first time noticed the scars on her hands. Maura had wished for the easy confidence to know how to delicately asked Jane what had happened without resorting to clinical and detached medical language. Instead she had said nothing and hoped for more opportunities to get to know Jane better.

* * *

The following week, Maura walked into Boston Police Headquarters with William in tow. Before she could get to the elevator to go down to her office, she heard someone yelling, "Dr. Isles."

Maura was surprised to hear someone calling her name, but smiled when she saw Jane waving her over. She walked over to the counter where Jane was sitting. "Hello, Detective Rizzoli."

"Hi Doc. Hey Billy," Jane greeted them while looking at them curiously. Billy was wearing khakis and a short sleeve button down shirt, which Jane assumed must be some sort of school uniform. But Maura was wearing a green dress and heels and looked like she was ready for a fancy dinner party. "Did school start today?"

"It starts tomorrow," Maura answered. "But there was an orientation for new students this morning."

"What are you doing here? You aren't starting until next week right?"

"Yes, but I wanted to check in on the lab. I ordered some new equipment and supplies. Some of the equipment that was here was woefully out of date."

"Yeah, well, so was the last M.E," Jane joked.

"And there should be some applications for open district medical examiner and lab technician positions I'm hoping to fill as soon as possible, so I wanted to pick those up."

"I want to introduce you to someone. Ma," Jane called to the woman who had just appeared behind the counter. When she came over to them Jane said, "Ma, this is our new Chief Medical Examiner, Dr. Maura Isles. Dr. Isles this is my mother, Angela Rizzoli. She runs the cafe here."

"Nice to meet you," Maura said as she shook Angela's hand. "And this is my son, William."

"You can call me Billy," he interjected.

"It's very nice to meet you both," Angela said.

"Ma, can you watch Billy for a few minutes while I show Dr. Isles down to her office?"

"I'd be happy to," Angela agreed. "How about some milk and cookies?" she said to Billy.

"Do you have anything healthier?" Maura interjected. "Maybe some fruit?"

"This is a cop cafe, honey, but I'll see what I can find. You two go ahead. Billy and I will get to know each other."

"Are you sure?" Maura asked. "I probably have about an hour of work to do. He has a book and his iPad to keep him busy if you can just keep an eye on him."

Angela waved her away. "Go, we'll be fine."

"My mother is great with kids," Jane said as she ushered Maura towards the elevators. "What's with the William, Billy thing anyway?"

"Oh, he insists on being called Billy right now. I have no idea why."

"You don't like it?"

"His name is William. I thought he'd like Will if he wanted something shorter. Billy is a new thing and no, I suppose I don't really like it and I'm not even sure where it came from. I was hoping it was just going to be a short phase but he seems committed to telling everyone that it's his name."

"Reinventing himself in a new city?" Jane joked.

"Perhaps," Maura said with a laugh.

"It could be worse. He could want to be called Captain Underpants."

"Why would he want to call himself that?"

"I don't know, but my brother Tommy insisted on it for a while when he was five."

Maura laughed again, not quite sure if Jane was joking or not. They walked out of the elevators and into the suite of labs and offices that made up the medical examiner's department. Maura said hello to the office manager. They had a brief conversation about the supplies and Maura took the applications that had arrived.

As they moved into one of the autopsy suites, Maura said, "While I appreciate the escort Detective Rizzoli, I do know how to get to my office on my own."

"Oh, of course," Jane said, the hint of a blush showing on her cheeks. "I wasn't thinking. Obviously you know where your office is. I'll, uh, let you get to work."

"Oh, um," Maura stammered, inwardly berating herself for attempting what she meant to be a good-natured joke. "I just meant that you're probably very busy, you don't have to stay down here if you have other places you need to be. You've done enough for me already this past week."

Jane shrugged. "I don't have to be anywhere else at the moment. Is there anything I can help you with?"

"I just want to unpack these boxes, make sure everything I ordered is here and put the supplies away. If you open the boxes and check the contents against the order form, I'll put things away where I want them. Does that sound okay?"

"Sure," Jane agreed. "You can call me Jane, by the way. You don't have to keep calling me Detective Rizzoli."

"Only if you call me Maura."

Jane started opening boxes and checking the contents against the list Maura gave her. "So, what's your plan covering the case load and Billy's schedule? If you don't mind me asking."

"My plan is to cover Boston, just like the previous Chief M.E. I've received approval to hire another district medical examiner, so there will now be four to cover the rest of the state. I should only have to cover cases outside the city that are high profile or exceptionally difficult for some reason. The crime lab has been understaffed for a while as far as I can tell. I'm hiring more crime scene techs and lab technicians with the goal of getting evidence turned around faster. Hopefully all of these improvements will make my job easier as well so I have evenings with Will. I just hired someone to watch him. She's a graduate student in biology at MIT. She'll pick him up from school, bring him home, and look after him until I get home. I'm still figuring out what's going to happen on late nights or if I get called in the middle of the night."

"You can always ask me if you need someone on short notice," Jane offered. "As long as I'm not working too, I can watch him."

"Oh, Jane, I wouldn't ask you to use your free time to do that."

"Why not? It's not like I'll be doing anything else."

"I wouldn't impose on you like that," Maura protested. Jane just shrugged and Maura had the feeling that she had somehow said something wrong so she decided to change the subject. "Can you tell me about the other Homicide Detectives here at BPD?"

"Oh, um, sure. So, Korsak has been a detective longer than anyone else in the unit. He's, uh, a really great guy and a great detective. You'll like him. He, um…he used to be partner. Frost is my new partner. He's new to Homicide so he's learning, but he's really smart and he can do anything with a computer. I guess I should warn you though that he's still pretty queasy at crime scenes. Don't expect to see him at any autopsies soon. Crowe and Sullivan are partners. Crowe's an asshole so watch out for him, and Sullivan just does whatever Crowe tells him to do. Ortiz and Connolly are fine. That's everyone in my squad. I can't really comment on anyone else because I haven't worked with them."

"Does Korsak have a new partner too?" Maura asked.

Jane frowned and again Maura felt like she had said something wrong as Jane answered, "Um, not right now. I think he should get a promotion to Sergeant soon. He's basically assisting with everyone's cases now, kinda supervising."

Maura nodded in understanding, although she was sure she was missing something, and then she looked around the lab. "I think we're done unpacking. I should go get Will and finish the errands we have to do today before school starts. Thank you for helping again, Jane."

"No problem. I'll walk you back up to the cafe."

They went upstairs and found Billy and Angela deep in conversation. From what Maura could hear as she approached, they were talking about football.

"He had a banana and cookies," Angela said, with a wink directed at Billy.

"Thank you. How much do I owe you?" Maura asked.

"No charge. And anytime you need someone to look after Billy, I'm happy to do it."

"Thank you," Maura said and then ran her hand over Billy's head, smoothing over the light brown hair that was always sticking up on top of his head. "Ready Will?"

"Are we going shopping now?" he asked.

"Yes we are. Can you thank Mrs. Rizzoli?"

"Thank you Mrs. Rizzoli. It was nice to meet you," Billy said.

"Come visit anytime," Angela said to both Maura and Billy.

"Bye Jane," Billy said. "Do you want to play later?"

"We'll see. It depends on when I get out of work today, okay?"

"Okay," he said happily.

Maura smiled at both Jane and Angela, said, "Goodbye," and they left.

Once they were out of earshot, Angela said to Jane, "Billy told me you played football with him last week."

Jane turned her gaze from the door Maura and Billy had just walked out of to her mother. "I did. He's a good kid."

"How are your hands?"

"Fine," Jane answered, unconsciously flexing her fingers. "Nothing a little ibuprofen couldn't handle."

"From talking with him, it sounds like it's just the two of them. Has Dr. Isles mentioned Billy's father or anyone else?" Angela asked.

"No, she hasn't mentioned anyone else, neither has he, and I definitely haven't asked. But I think it's just the two of them. I'm surprised you didn't get their whole life history today," Jane joked.

"She certainly is beautiful." When Jane rolled her eyes at her, Angela said, "Oh please, don't try to pretend you didn't notice. You're already practically following her around like a little puppy."

"Seriously, Ma?" Jane hissed, looking around to see if anyone could hear them.

"Okay, okay, I'm exaggerating," Angela said softly. "But Janie, you haven't dated anyone since before-"

"I know, Ma."

"So I'm happy to see you interested in someone."

"That's not…I'm just being friendly to a new coworker. Don't make a big deal out of it."

Angela narrowed her eyes at Jane. "Fine. Then I'm happy to see you making new friends. You shut yourself away for so long and—."

"So long?" Jane interrupted. "I've only been back at work a few months."

Angela rubbed her hand up and down Jane's arm. "You've been back at work for eight months and all you do is work. I just want to see you happy."

Jane sighed. "I'm working on it."


	3. Chapter 3

**Daylight**

Chapter 3

Pairing: Jane/Maura  
Rating: T  
Disclaimer: Jane Rizzoli and Maura Isles do not belong to me.

* * *

After seeing Maura and Billy at headquarters, Jane caught a case that kept her busy for most of the next week. She didn't end up having any time to play with Billy. She did run into Maura a few times once Maura started working, but Jane didn't have a new case, and therefore a reason to work with Maura, until Friday.

When Jane arrived at the crime scene, Maura was already there, squatting next to the body and looking as dressed up as she had when she had come into headquarters a week before. Jane couldn't quite understand wanting to wear a dress and heels to stand over a dead body, but she didn't really ever want to wear a dress and heels so she figured she wasn't the best judge of that. Maura did make the dress and heels look good though, that was undeniable. In fact, Jane thought, she had probably never seen anyone make a dress look quite as good as Maura Isles did.

She saw Frost, hovering on the edge of the area immediately surrounding the body, and crime scene technicians working around the body, marking and photographing evidence.

"Jane," Frost said as she approached. "The new M.E. is looking at the body. I'm going to take a walk around the perimeter, see if I spot anything else of interest or if there are any witnesses lingering around."

"Yeah, okay," Jane agreed. "I'll talk to Dr. Isles." By the time Jane reached the body, Maura was standing, taking notes on a clipboard.

"Cause of death?" Jane asked without a greeting.

Maura looked a little taken aback at the question and said, "I don't know yet. I'll let you know once I've done the autopsy."

For a second, Jane thought Maura must be kidding but when no further explanation was coming, she said, "Come on, you must have a guess. There are marks on the neck, do you think he was strangled?"

"I don't guess, Detective."

Jane looked around to see who was paying attention to their conversation. She moved closer to Maura so she could say more quietly, "Are you serious? You can't give me anything from your examination of the body right now?"

"I can't tell you anything conclusive. I will provide you with information from the autopsy and forensic evidence as soon as possible."

"Do you at least have a time of death?"

"Based on the state of rigor mortis and liver temperature, ten to fourteen hours ago. I'm going back to the lab right now and," Maura said, looking at her watch, "I should start the autopsy within two hours. I'll get you my report as soon as possible."

Two men came over at Maura's signal to bag up the body and wheel it away. Maura left, leaving Jane somewhat bewildered by their interaction.

* * *

Two hours later, Jane entered the autopsy suite just after Maura had finished the external examination of the body and as she was preparing to make the Y incision. Maura was in black scrubs and a white lab coat with a plastic shield over her face. She looked up in surprise when Jane approached the table.

"What are you doing here?" Maura asked. It sounded harsher out loud than she had intended and she cringed.

"I'm here to watch the autopsy," Jane answered flatly.

"Do you not trust me to do an adequate job?" Maura asked weakly.

Jane grimaced and furrowed her brow, composing her thoughts before she answered. "Unless there is a compelling lead that I should be following instead, I watch every autopsy for my cases. It's one way I can honor the victims and if there isn't an obvious lead, the autopsy usually provides our best evidence, which is something I'm sure you are well aware of. The earlier we get that information the better, and I find being able to talk details through with the medical examiner very helpful. I hope that won't be a problem for you."

"N-no," Maura stammered. "Of course it isn't a problem."

Jane looked around, making sure there was no one else in the lab at the moment before saying, "Did I do something wrong or something to upset you? I thought we were friends."

"I…you did?"

"Well yeah, becoming friends at least. Look," Jane said as she rubbed her hands over her face. "I get it if you want to have this detached professional thing going on at work. I mean, being a woman in a male dominated field you don't want to look like a pushover. You want all the asshole cops to take you seriously and treat you with respect. I totally get that. But that doesn't mean you have to be cold."

"I'm not…that's not…I'm simply trying to do my job just like you are. I don't guess, I can't tell you information simply because you want it right at that moment. That doesn't make me cold," Maura said heatedly. "I will provide you with every piece of evidence I can and you have complete confidence in it because the science doesn't lie and I don't make mistakes. But you have to respect how I do my job."

"Okay, I will," Jane said, nodding. "Do your job so I can do mine."

* * *

Saturday evening, Maura knocked on Jane's door and stood back nervously. A moment later, Jane, in black sweatpants and a gray hoodie, opened the door. "Hey."

"Hi. I was hoping we could talk for a minute?"

"Sure. Come in, I was just eating some dinner."

Jane closed the door behind Maura and Maura followed her into the kitchen, where she realized that by 'eating dinner,' Jane meant standing in the kitchen with a bowl of cereal and a beer. "Do you always eat like this?" Maura asked before she could stop herself.

Jane just shrugged in response.

"I want to apologize-" Maura started.

Jane cut her off. "Don't worry about it."

Maura shook her head and in frustration at herself blurted out, "Queen of the Dead."

"What?"

"That's what the homicide detectives in San Francisco called me. Queen of the Dead."

"Why would they call you that?"

"They didn't particularly like me. They respected my work but they didn't like me. I never asked them why though. Maybe they thought I was cold."

"I'm sorry about saying that," Jane said genuinely.

"Don't be sorry. I appreciate your honesty."

"You're not though and I shouldn't have said that. You're not the Queen of the Dead," Jane said, punctuating the statement by stabbing her spoon in Maura's direction.

"You can't know that. You barely know me," Maura said softly.

"Not yet, but I'm pretty good at reading people and from the time we've spent together I know that's not who you are."

Maura blushed in embarrassment and changed the topic. "William wants to invite you to watch football with us tomorrow. I have the package with all of the games so he can still watch the 49ers. We'll be watching their game at 4:30. Maybe you could come over for the game and dinner?"

"Are you inviting me or is Billy?"

"Will wanted me to ask you and I told him I would. But I'd be happy if you joined us too."

"Okay. I'll be there."

* * *

The next day, Jane knocked on Maura's door right at 4:30. Maura opened the door wearing a pair of skin tight jeans, a silk sleeveless blouse, and heels.

"Do you always dress like you're about to do a photo shoot?" Jane asked, feeling oddly underdressed in her jeans and t-shirt.

"What do you mean?"

"Nevermind," Jane said, chuckling, as she followed Maura to the living room.

"Would you like something to drink?" Maura asked. "I can open a bottle of wine."

"Just some water would be fine, thanks," Jane answered. Billy was sitting on the floor, wearing a 49ers jersey and holding his football. Jane said, "Hey Billy," as she sat down on the couch.

"Jane, the Patriots won. The 49ers game just started," Billy said excitedly.

The 49ers and the Packers traded touchdowns in the first half. With each 49ers touchdown, Billy danced around the room, high-fiving everyone, and Maura responded enthusiastically. He was less attentive when the 49ers were on defense, spending that time reciting information about the teams and asking Jane if she knew a million obscure facts about football.

Jane and Maura chatted a little about their last case, with Jane filling Maura in on how she and Frost presented the forensic evidence to the suspect and were able to get a confession.

The score was tied at halftime and Maura said to Jane, "I'm going to work on dinner. We'll eat right after the game."

"Would you like some help?" Jane asked.

"No, thank you, you two stay here and I'll take care of it."

With Billy sitting on the floor in front of her and fixated on the television, Jane used the opportunity to look around the living room more closely. Shelving lining two walls of the room was filled with books, pieces of sculpture, and pictures that were mostly of Billy with a few of both Billy and Maura. She wanted to get up and look at everything more closely, but didn't want Maura to come back and catch her snooping.

Instead she said to Billy, "How's school?"

"Good," he answered.

"Yeah? Anything interesting so far?"

"It's pretty normal, I guess," he answered vaguely.

Jane realized she didn't actually know where he was going to school and she didn't really know what else to ask so she dropped the questioning. She could play sports with a ten year old but anything beyond that was mostly a mystery to her.

He asked her, "Do you catch bad guys like my mom?"

Jane wondered how much he understood about what Maura's job was, but she said, "Yes. I'm a detective and your mom and I work together sometimes."

"Do you have a gun?"

Jane chuckled and answered, "Yes, detectives carry a gun."

"Do you shoot people?"

"Um, using my weapon is a last resort for if someone is dangerous and an immediate threat to other people's safety."

Apparently that was a good enough answer because he said, "That's cool," and then turned back to the television.

When Maura returned she said, "Are you sure you don't want a glass of wine?"

"Do you have any beer?"

"No, sorry."

"I'll stick with the water. But thanks."

The rest of the game passed without much conversation. It was difficult to talk much more about work with Billy in the room and neither woman was sure what other topics to broach.

Late in the fourth quarter, the 49ers took the lead for good and Maura went to the kitchen to finish dinner. After the game, Billy led Jane to the kitchen where there was a small dining table that had been set with three place settings.

Billy directed Jane where to sit and Maura set plates of food in front of them. "Baked curry chicken and quinoa," she said to Jane.

"Thank you. It smells good."

During dinner Maura asked Billy questions about his classes and after school activities for the upcoming week and Jane observed their interaction. Billy wasn't as animated as when he was talking about football, but he clearly liked school and was already engaged in a number of the classes. Also, Maura clearly knew what questions to ask.

When he was done eating, Maura said, "Go get in your pajamas and brush your teeth. You can read whatever you want in bed. I'll be there in a few minutes."

"Do you want to watch the game again next week?" Billy asked Jane before he left.

"We'll see," Jane answered with a glance at Maura to unsuccessfully try to gauge her reaction to Billy's invitation. "I might have to work."

"Okay. Goodnight."

"Goodnight, Billy."

Jane and Maura finished eating in silence until Jane said, "The food was delicious. Thank you for dinner."

"My pleasure," Maura responded. Jane moved to pick up Billy's plate and clear the dishes from the table, but Maura stopped her with a hand on her forearm. "You don't have to do that. I'll clean up later. But will you wait while I put him to bed? It will take ten, maybe fifteen, minutes."

Jane nodded. "Sure."

Maura left the kitchen and Jane cleaned the dishes anyway. Then she sat back down in the living room, switching the television over to the Sunday night game while she waited for Maura. When Maura returned she sat down on the other end of the couch and slipped off her heels before tucking her legs underneath her and facing Jane.

Jane turned off the television and said, "You're not a big fan of football, are you?"

"Actually, I appreciate the athleticism and skill of the players and the strategy and intelligence required to play the game. It is an incredibly complex game but no, I'm definitely not as enthusiastic about it as Will is. It is also incredibly dangerous and I am dreading the day Will wants to really play because I don't know if I can say yes but I don't know how I'm going to tell him no. "

"Has he played any other sports?" Jane asked.

"Soccer the past few summers. He recently started talking about possibly wanting to play baseball. He started paying more attention to baseball this summer, but football has obviously eclipsed that now."

"Baseball sounds good. I will have to make sure he's a Red Sox fan though. What about you? What are you in to?"

"Well, science," Maura answered with a small smile. "I like art and music. But a lot of my free time is dictated by Will's interests now."

"I noticed the sculpture pieces around the room."

"A few of them were done by my mother. The others I've collected over the years."

"Your mother is an artist?"

"Yes. She mostly works in mixed media and non-traditional materials now, but she used to do a lot of sculpture. These are some of her early pieces."

Jane nodded although she really had no idea what Maura was talking about.

"What about you?" Maura asked. "What are your interests?"

"Oh, um, I don't know. I don't have time for much outside of work. If I'm not working or doing something for my family, I usually just hang out at home and read a crime novel."

"You spend your free time reading crime novels?"

"Yeah, I guess that's kinda lame, huh?"

"No, it's…" Maura was going to say cute, but stopped herself.

"What?" Jane said laughing.

"It's nice," Maura said instead, smiling.

"Okay, well, I should get going." Jane stood. "Thanks for dinner."

Maura followed Jane to the door. "Thanks for coming over. It means a lot to Will."

"Sure. I'll see you later."

"Goodnight," Maura said, closing the door behind Jane.


	4. Chapter 4

**Daylight**

Chapter 4

Pairing: Jane/Maura  
Rating: T  
Disclaimer: Jane Rizzoli and Maura Isles do not belong to me.

* * *

Maura never bothered to understand the intricacies of how homicide detectives got assigned to cases in the San Francisco Police Department. It didn't impact her handling of the case. She did the autopsy, oversaw the processing of forensic evidence, and wrote her reports. After enough cases, she could tell which detectives were better than others, either because they actually cared about the victims or simply because they were good at their job. But she never went to the trouble of trying to predict when those detectives would be at a crime scene.

So it came as somewhat of a surprise that she found herself wondering when Jane would be at a crime scene again. She wondered how the Boston Police Department detectives got assigned cases, if there was a set rotation, or if it depended on their currently open cases. She wondered if Jane ever had to work night shifts, and if that meant that they could go weeks without seeing each other at work.

Maura wondered all of this as she drove to a crime scene in Cambridge where she knew she wouldn't be seeing Jane. As part of preparing to take this job, Maura had researched population, murder and crime rates, and overall past death rates in cities and towns across the state in order to divide responsibilities among herself and the district medical examiners. Although she assumed she would have to make some adjustments eventually, her region currently included some of the larger Boston suburbs, like Cambridge, Somerville, Watertown, Brookline, and Newton.

This meant that this first month of work involved lots of new police departments and different bureaucracies to learn and lots of people to meet. Every new potential murder victim, like the one this morning, meant a whole new round of introductions. Everything had gone relatively smoothly so far, but still Maura felt herself wishing this morning that she would be seeing a friendly face, and she had to admit she was looking forward to seeing Jane in the autopsy lab again.

* * *

Jane sat with her brother Frankie at the cafe at headquarters. She was drinking coffee and he was eating what looked like a five course breakfast, which of course had been prepared by their mother. Angela had come to work at the cafe a few years ago when it had been nothing but bad coffee and a sad assortment of donuts and pastries. She had taken over the whole operation and turned it into a nice cafe with full breakfast and lunch.

"Do you still have that guy who sells you Red Sox tickets?" Jane asked Frankie.

"Yeah. Do you want me to see if he can get you any?"

"If it's possible for any of the regular season games left. It's gotta be a day game though and I need three tickets."

"Three?" Frankie questioned.

"Four, if you wanna come too."

"Who are you bringing?"

"I want to invite Maura, uh, Dr. Isles and her kid."

"Ah," Frankie said as if Jane had confirmed his suspicions. "Ma said you've been spending a lot of time with her."

"I wouldn't say that exactly. But she's new to town, she's a single mother, and we work together. I'm just trying to be friendly."

"She's pretty easy on the eyes, too," Frankie said.

"Settle down," Jane said, rolling her eyes. "She's nice. I like her. I like her kid. That's all."

"What's her deal anyway?" Frankie asked.

"What do you mean?"

"She moved all the way across the country with a kid, just the two of them."

"And?"

"I don't know, it just seems a little sketchy. Like maybe she's running from something or someone? Who knows what she's hiding."

Jane shook her head. "You know that the Chief Medical Examiner gets appointed by the Governor right? I'm pretty sure they do a thorough background check. Probably call some references."

Frankie shrugged. "I'm just saying it raises some questions. So why do you think she'd want to go to a Red Sox game?"

"Billy, her ten-year-old, loves football and is obsessed with the 49ers, but she said he recently starting watching baseball too. I figured I can make him a Red Sox fan. There's nothing better than a game at Fenway."

"I'll check with my guy and let you know."

"Thanks."

Having a lull in customers, Angela came over to their table and said without any room for argument, "I'm having Father Crowley over for dinner Friday night and you both are going to be there at 6pm."

"Ugh," Jane groaned but Frankie kicked her under the table before she could say anything else.

"Jane, I expect you to be in a dress and Frankie, wear a suit and tie. No excuses," Angela said, punctuating the last statement by jabbing her index finger at Jane and walking away before either of them could argue with her.

Knowing there was no way out of this dinner, Jane joked, "I'm amazed Father Crowley is still willing to risk coming to our house."

"He's a priest, he has to forgive. And you know Ma thinks she has to atone."

"She didn't hit Father Crowley with a car and she wasn't the one who ended her marriage vows. It's not her job to make up for Tommy and Pop being screw ups."

"You know how she is."

Jane shook her head. Frankie never disagreed with their mother the way she did. "Yeah, but I don't know why we have to go on these Catholic guilt trips with her."

"Because we're still here," Frankie said.

Jane dropped her head, knowing that she should be easier on her mother. Tommy and her father weren't the only ones who had put her mother through hell in the past few years. While Jane knew that her mother had done her best to respect Jane's wishes that they forget what had happened to her and move on, she knew her mother still thought about it just as much as she did. "I guess I'll see you Friday night," Jane said as she got up to leave.

"Don't forget the dress," Frankie said loudly as she walked away.

* * *

Maura arrived home Friday evening, to the unexpected sight of Jane coming down the building's stairway in a black dress and heels. "Hi," Maura said while trying to hide how flustered seeing Jane like this was making her.

"Hey," Jane said sheepishly. Maura was staring at her and she looked down, expecting to find she had somehow messed up the dress while walking the two flights down the stairs, but she didn't see anything wrong. "What is it?" she asked. "Do I look terrible or something?"

Maura shook her head. "No," she answered emphatically. "You look…you look gorgeous."

"Oh," Jane said, feeling the heat rising to her cheeks. "Thank you."

"Do you have a date?" Maura managed to ask.

"No," Jane said with laugh. "I'm going to my mother's house for dinner, but she invited the priest from our church so that means I have to wear a dress."

Maura wasn't able to follow that logic. "You have to wear a dress for the priest?"

"Yeah, it's kind of a long story, but the Rizzoli family doesn't have the best track record with him so my brother and I have to be on our best behavior or my Ma will lose her mind."

"Your brother Tommy will be there too?" Maura asked, remembering Jane had previously mentioned a brother named Tommy.

"Uh, no, my other brother Frankie. He's a cop too. I'm sure you'll meet him sometime. Tommy, uh, lives farther away and he's kinda the main reason the rest of us have to be on good behavior," Jane cryptically explained, but she noticed that Maura didn't seem to be paying close attention to what she was saying anyway. Instead Maura was clearly checking her out. Jane suppressed a grin and said, "I should go so I'm not late. I'll see you later."

Maura's gaze snapped backed up to Jane's face. "Yes, of course. See you later," Maura said, shaking her head at herself. "Oh, Jane, one more thing," Maura managed to say before Jane left. "Sunday, the 49ers play the late night game after Will's bedtime. I'm going to record it so he can watch it Monday. But would you like to do something else with us this weekend? Perhaps we could go back to the park?"

"Sure," Jane said, smiling. "Why don't you text me. You have my number right?"

"Yes."

"Alright. Just text me tomorrow."

"Okay. Goodnight, Jane."

Jane gave a little wave over her shoulder as she left.

* * *

They agreed to get together Sunday afternoon. Maura said she would pack a picnic lunch. Jane suggested that instead of going back to the nearby park, they go to the Esplanade along the Charles River. Maura agreed, happy to have the opportunity to explore more of the city.

Maura opened her door to Jane's knocking just after 11:00am on Sunday. Jane immediately frowned when she saw Maura and Maura said, "What's wrong?"

"Um, is that what you're wearing?" Jane asked.

It was sunny and hotter than normal for September. Maura had taken the opportunity of what might be the last really warm day of the year to wear a pale yellow sundress and sandals. "Well…yes. Is there something wrong with this?"

"I just though maybe you would play some with us today, instead of watching, and that probably wouldn't be the best outfit. But it's up to you, no big deal if you would prefer to just watch."

Maura took in Jane's own outfit of sneakers, cargo shorts, and a t-shirt with the Boston Police Department logo on the front and said, "You're right. Let me change quickly."

"It is a very nice dress," Jane called after her, sort of regretting suggesting Maura change as she watched her walk away. Billy came into the living room then and Jane said, "Hey, buddy, ready to go?"

"Yes!" he answered enthusiastically. "Mom packed sandwiches and water and a blanket and the football."

"Great. There's other stuff at this park too. We might find some other stuff to do once we're there. We don't have to just play football."

"Okay," he said agreeably.

Jane noted that she hadn't yet seen him be disagreeable about anything and Jane wondered if he ever fought with Maura about anything. While they waited for Maura to change, Jane used an app on her phone to request a cab and received a message that one would be there within ten minutes.

Maura came back after changing into a pair of cargo capris and a tank top covered by an unbuttoned sheer long sleeve shirt. She picked up a big soft sided cooler and a large tote bag and said, "I'm ready." Jane had a small backpack slung over her shoulder in which she'd packed water and extra sunblock and she quickly moved to take the cooler from Maura's hand.

They went outside and waited a few minutes for the cab. Jane explained it was easiest to take a cab because there was no parking along the river and the closest parking they would find could be blocks away. When the cab arrived they all piled in the back and Jane directed the driver to the north end of Dartmouth Street where they could take a footbridge over Storrow Drive to get to the Esplanade.

The cab dropped them off and Jane led them over the footbridge and down a pathway to get to a larger open area of grass along the river. There were other groups with picnic blankets spread on the grass, along with cyclists who were taking a break from their ride to look at the view, and runners and cyclists using the paved paths.

Maura pointed to a spot under a tree and they spread out the blanket in the shade. Billy immediately took his football out of the bag and said, "Jane, can we do the passing routes like before?"

"Sure, but I think your mom might want to play this time, too."

Maura was taking off her long sleeve shirt and she said, "I know the passing routes. Post, slant, corner, quick out, hook." At Jane's raised eyebrows, she said with a grin, "I was paying attention last time, too."

"How about we all pass the ball around a little and then we'll run some plays?" Jane suggested. Billy was already running to get into position and Jane looked at Maura and asked, "Okay? Need any pointers?"

"We'll see," Maura said.

Jane moved to form the third point in their triangle and Billy threw the ball to Maura. It was a low throw and she almost caught it, but it dropped to the ground. Billy wasn't great at throwing but he could catch pretty well and Jane assumed that's why wanted to play where he was the wide receiver rather than doing a lot of throwing. Maura picked up the ball and threw it to Jane. It was a little wobbly but it got to her. They played like that for a while with varying degrees of success and with Billy providing energetic commentary the whole time.

"Is everyone warmed up?" Jane asked when she noted that Billy seemed to be getting bored. She went back to stand next to Maura and said, "Alright, let's see what you got." They took turns throwing the ball to Billy as he ran around, calling the routes he wanted to run himself.

"Did you play any sports as a kid?" Jane asked Maura.

"I did ballet and fencing," Maura answered.

"How did you end up doing fencing?"

"My school had fencing. I didn't participate in any team sports, at least not ones where it's not just you against an opponent or performing for yourself. Sometimes I think I missed out. How did you learn to play football?"

"I had two brothers and a neighborhood full of kids. There was always some sort of game happening."

Maura made a successful pass to Billy and asked, "So, how am I doing?"

"You know, last time you made it sound like you had no athletic skills., but you're pretty good," Jane said. "I could give you a couple of pointers, though."

Maura flipped the ball to Jane and said, "Okay."

"If you turn your body a little more you can really step into the throw and get more power behind it. And make sure you come over the top on the throw, rather than from the side. That will help with accuracy." Jane demonstrated the motion and threw a pass to Billy who had been standing and watching their conversation.

He threw the ball back to Jane and she tossed it to Maura. Maura resisted the very strong and unbidden urge to ask Jane to come show her exactly how she should move her body. Instead she tried to replicate what Jane had done and threw the ball to Billy. She smiled at Jane and asked, "How was that?"

"Very good," Jane said, smiling back and holding Maura's gaze.

"Mom, I'm hungry," Billy said, walking between them on his way to their blanket.

"Okay, honey. Let's have lunch." Maura glanced back at Jane, meeting her gaze for another moment before following Billy.

Jane learned that Maura's version of sandwiches meant an entire salad stuffed into some sort of fancy wrap, along with some sort of goat cheese, crackers, and raspberries on the side. Jane had to admit it did taste good, although she couldn't imagine herself at ten years old eating it all as easily or happily as Billy was eating.

After lunch, Jane was ready for a nap, but Billy was up and ready to play some more. Her hands still needed a break from football so she asked them both, "Wanna go over to the dock and get a better look at the river?"

"Why don't you two go," Maura said. "I think I'm going to relax here with my book."

"Billy? Wanna check it out?"

"Okay," he said with a shrug.

"Uh, Maura?" Jane said quietly. "I won't let him fall in or anything, but can he swim?"

"He's a good swimmer," Maura answered with a laugh, although she added, "But please don't let him fall in."

Jane and Billy went out to the dock. The water level was low enough that they could sit on the edge, legs dangling over the water. Jane pointed out landmarks on both sides of the river like the MIT campus on the Cambridge side, and the Prudential and Hancock buildings, the weather beacon, and the Citgo sign behind them and to their west on the Boston side.

"What's that thing?" Billy asked, pointing east down the river.

Jane looked where he was pointing at a boat that was moving towards them. "That is a duck boat."

"What's that?"

"It's a vehicle that can go both on the road and in the water. The military used similar ones but these ones take people on tours. They go on the street through downtown Boston and then finish the tour by coming into the river."

"Can we go on one?" he asked excitedly.

"Yeah, maybe sometime this fall, but we may have to wait until spring. They won't run much longer this year. We'll ask your mom." Jane looked at the other boaters on the water and said, "Have you ever gone kayaking?"

"We went on vacation once. Can we do that here too?"

"Yeah, there are some places that rent kayaks and canoes. What about biking. Do you have a bike?"

"No."

"Hmm. We'll have to figure that one out."

"I don't know how to ride a bike," he said sort of quietly, like he was embarrassed about that fact.

"That's okay. You can learn. If you want to."

"Maybe next year," he agreed with more confidence.

"Why don't we go back and check on your mom?" Jane suggested.

Billy got up and Jane followed him back to their spot. Everyone agreed that they were ready to head home so they packed everything up and walked back over the footbridge and over to Beacon Street to get a cab to bring them home.

Back at their building, Maura unlocked her apartment door and let Billy inside. She turned back to Jane so she could get the cooler and said, "Thank you for today."

Jane leaned against the wall next to Maura's door. "You don't have to thank me. I should be thanking you."

"Why would you have to thank me?" Maura asked genuinely.

Jane dropped her head and sighed, a little embarrassed by her statement. "I just, um…recently, I guess, I haven't been getting out much. Today was nice."

"Yes, it was nice," Maura said softly.

"So, thank you for inviting me to do stuff with you. It's helping me get out of the house, I guess. And I have a nice time with you…and Billy, of course."

Maura wished she knew the perfect way to respond to that statement that conveyed both that she felt the same way and was delighted that Jane even wanted to spend time with her. But she didn't know how to say that. Instead she said, "Would you like to join us for dinner?"

"Thanks, but I should really take care of some things," Jane said reluctantly. "I should get going and let you do whatever you need to for the rest of the day."

Maura watched Jane walk to the stairs before saying, "You're welcome to join us anytime, Jane."

Jane turned around to say, "Thanks," before going up to her apartment.


	5. Chapter 5

**Daylight**

Chapter 5

Pairing: Jane/Maura  
Rating: T  
Disclaimer: Jane Rizzoli and Maura Isles do not belong to me.

* * *

Maura was surprised to realize a month had passed since she had moved. In some ways it felt like no time had gone by and in others it felt like ages since she had been in San Francisco. She was fully immersed in her work here and Will seemed fully immersed in his new school and new friends. She asked him recently if he wanted to call or Skype any of his friends in San Francisco but he hadn't seemed interested.

Now Will was cuddled up next to her on the couch watching their third Red Sox game of the week while she tried to work on her laptop. She was paying more attention to him than the game or her work. He had always been an affectionate kid, much to Maura's relief. Unlike herself when she was a child, he was quick to give hugs or sit in her lap or take her hand in public, but that was starting to change. He still liked to be close to her at home and wanted to do things like sit in her lap to read a book before bed. But in public he was avoiding things like hugs and wouldn't hold her hand anymore. Maura knew it was only a matter of time until he stopped doing these thing at home too and she was more careful to enjoy these moments while they lasted.

Will was watching the Red Sox because they were going to a game with Jane and he immediately developed an obsession, made worse by the fact that he could only watch the first two or three innings of the games this week before bed. He was doing his best to learn all about the team and players in his limited time before the game.

Jane had come to her office early in the week to invite them to go to the game with her on Sunday. Maura was surprised and touched by the gesture but had rather tactlessly asked if there was anyone else Jane would rather invite. Only when Jane explained that she got the tickets in order for the three of them to go together did Maura notice how nervous and actually shy Jane seemed about asking her. Maura quickly said that they would love to go.

The following evening Jane had stopped by with a blue Dustin Pedroia t-shirt and a baseball glove for Will. Jane asked her the previous day if he had a glove, but Maura hadn't expected her to go out and get him one. Jane and Will had huddled together so she could explain to him how to break in the glove. As far as Maura could tell that process involved wearing the glove all evening, punching it a lot, and sticking it under his mattress with a ball inside while he slept.

Maura was pleased, although a bit mystified, by the immediate connection Will and Jane seemed to have formed. Will had always made friends easily with other kids but adults usually didn't hold much interest for him. Now he was constantly telling her something Jane had done or said during the few times they had spent time together.

After Will told her for the tenth time something Jane had said about his glove, she asked out of genuine curiosity, "Why do you like Jane so much?"

He shrugged. "She likes football and she's nice. She talks to me."

Maura rubbed her hand over his head, thinking it was time for him to get a haircut. "What do you mean she talks to you?"

"She talks about normal stuff like sports and she likes to do things. And she listens to things I say."

"That makes sense."

"Do you like Jane?" he asked.

"Yes, I like her too."

"Do you see her a lot at work?"

"Not really. I work with a lot of departments and a lot of detectives so we only work together occasionally."

"Maybe she should come over for dinner more," he suggested.

"She's probably busy a lot, but we'll see."

Will snuggled in closer to her and asked, "Can I watch one more inning?"

It was already past his bedtime but Maura said, "Sure. One more."

* * *

Beginning the year Jane turned seven, her father took her and her brothers to one Red Sox game every summer. That was when you could go to Fenway Park and buy tickets the day of the game. Now you had to buy tickets months in advance or be prepared to pay well over face value for tickets from either official or unofficial ticket resellers. But Frankie knew someone who would sell him tickets at face value when he had them and had been able to sell her three tickets for Sunday's game.

Jane still remembered the first game she had ever gone to at Fenway. It was just her, Frankie and her father. Tommy was too young to go that year, at least according to her mother. They had seats in the outfield bleachers and she remembered coming up the stairs from the concession area underneath the stadium and seeing the field for the first time. She didn't remember any details of the actual game. She thought the Red Sox won but she wasn't sure and she didn't remember who they played. But she still remembered how green the grass was and how big the Green Monster looked.

For today's game their tickets were in the left field grandstand. Certainly not the best seats in the park but good enough and they were close to the Green Monster which Jane thought Billy might find cool.

She wanted to recreate her first experience as best as possible if not better. Instead of the outfield, she had them enter the stands behind home plate. She watched Billy's eyes light up and he said, "Wow!"

Jane finally started to relax after that reaction. Since Maura's initial response to her invitation she had been unexpectedly nervous about the day. She was afraid that she had misread something about their growing friendship or that inviting them to a game was somehow too much, but in the end she had to assume Maura was just being overly polite. And there was no backing out then anyway, so she went forward with her plan and got Billy the t-shirt and baseball glove. He was wearing both items right now so that seemed to be a success at least.

Billy took in everything in almost total silence, which impressed Jane since it was the longest time she had experienced him going without talking, as they walked through the stands to their seats. Once they were seated Jane pointed out a few things in the park, explaining how the monster seats had only been there for ten years and telling him about the red seat in the right field bleachers marking the longest home run ever hit inside the park. But then she just let him take it all in.

"How often do you come to games?" Maura asked Jane after the first inning.

"My father took me and my brothers to a game every year when I was kid. I used to try to come a few times a season, but the past couple of years I haven't made it."

"Is your father still—" Maura started to ask and then realized too late that was maybe a far too personal question.

"Alive?" Jane said, finishing the question for her. "He's alive but about a year ago he left my mother and ran off with a woman half his age." After pausing for a moment she continued, "He calls every once in a while but I don't answer. I know Frankie talks to him but I don't know what to say to him. It's not like I don't want him to be happy, but he just walked out one day with no warning and I can't understand how he could do that to my mother. So anyway, I haven't seen him in a year."

"What about your brother Tommy. You said he lives far away, right?"

Jane was silent for a moment. Then she leaned closer so she could say quietly, "Tommy an alcoholic. He was driving drunk and hit Father Crowley. He's in prison." Maura's mouth hung open as she tried to formulate a response. "Don't worry about it," Jane said, taking pity on her. "You didn't know and I could have said something earlier. What about you? Do you have siblings?"

"No. Actually, technically I don't know if I have any biological siblings. I was adopted. I didn't grow up with any brothers or sisters."

"Oh."

Before Jane could ask, Maura said, "I don't know anything about my biological parents."

"Do you want to?"

Maura tilted her head thoughtfully. "Sometimes. But it was a private adoption and the records are sealed. There's not much I can do about it."

The conversation cut off as Billy grabbed their attention when the Red Sox started to get some hits in the second inning. Three singles and one run scored before Jackie Bradley Jr. smacked a home run to right field, which got everyone up and cheering.

The rest of the afternoon Jane and Maura focused on Billy, the game, and things going on in the ballpark, not returning to their somewhat awkward personal revelations. David Ortiz homered to right field in the sixth inning and the Red Sox won the game 5-2, leaving everyone in a good mood.

Jane had them wait for the crowd to disperse a little and then led them closer to the field. She surreptitiously flashed her badge at an usher and a security guard so they could walk to the edge of field behind the third base dugout and then walk around the edge of the field behind home plate and along the first base side of the field, so Billy could really see everything up close before they left.

* * *

While Maura and Billy were settling into a regular schedule, Jane and Frost caught a string of seemingly related cases that had them working long hours and left little time for doing anything other than sleeping outside of work. It did mean that Jane and Maura had more opportunities to work together. Despite the rocky start, they found a rhythm at work, mostly because Jane did her best to be patient and wait for Maura to complete her work.

Somewhat to her surprise, Jane found that this tactic worked extremely well. She didn't have to demand answers or push for results because Maura was more often than not a step ahead of her. Jane could just watch the autopsy and ask questions as she had them without worrying that something was going to be missed. She also discovered that Maura was helpful in discussing other aspects of the cases too. Maura had knowledge about a huge variety of subjects and often was able to fill in details about random pieces of evidence.

Jane found herself going down to Maura's office to run things by her on a regular basis and although they rarely talked about personal things, she felt she was getting to know Maura better as a person. Maura was brilliant and reserved and a little awkward at times, and Jane could see how her past colleagues might have been either intimidated or put off by her if they didn't get to know her beyond the surface. But Maura was also warm and kind and interesting, and Jane found herself looking for excuses to go talk to her.

Still, Jane was honestly surprised when she was in the car with Frost after tracking down a possible, but ultimately useless, witness and he asked, "What's up with you and Dr. Isles?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well, you're nice to her for one thing."

"I can't be nice?" Jane responded.

"You weren't nice to the last M.E. You were constantly demanding he do things faster and asking him a million questions in a tone that very much suggested you thought he was an idiot. You're going easy on Dr. Isles."

"I'm not going easy on her. She's simply better at her job than Dr. Walsh. He was slow and he missed things. She doesn't."

Frost grinned, enjoying teasing his normally unflappable partner. "What are you always going down to chat with her about?"

"She's nice. If you would go near a victim's body, you would know that." That shut Frost up, but Jane immediately felt bad about it. "Sorry, I didn't mean that."

"No, you're right. I need to work on that."

"You should ask Dr. Isles if she has any tips for getting used to working with dead bodies. I bet she can help," Jane suggested.

"Yeah, maybe."

Jane sighed. "Look, I like her, okay. I like spending time with her and I like spending time with her kid even though I usually don't even really like kids. I don't have a lot of friends—"

"I'm your friend," Frost interjected.

"You're my partner," Jane responded. "We're friends, but it's different. We're responsible for each other's safety in life and death situations. It's a different relationship."

"Jane, I'm just teasing. You like her, that's cool."

They drifted into silence until Jane said, "One of the reasons I like hanging out with Maura is that she wasn't here for the Hoyt case. She doesn't look at me differently now like everyone else does."

"That happened more than a year ago. No one is thinking about it anymore."

"That's easy for you to say but I see the way people look at me. I know people still talk about it and I know not everyone sees me the same as they used to. I wouldn't be surprised if Maura's heard by now what happened but at least it seems like she likes me and she's not being nice to me out of pity."

Frost parked the car in the headquarters parking lot and said, "I still think that it's less of a big deal for everyone than you think it is. But like I said, you like her and that's cool."

"Alright, enough of this sappy stuff," Jane said seriously. "Let's go to the Robber and get a beer."

* * *

_**A/N:** I know you all are waiting for more details about Maura's background. I promise that's coming in the next chapter._


	6. Chapter 6

**Daylight**

Chapter 6

Pairing: Jane/Maura  
Rating: T  
Disclaimer: Jane Rizzoli and Maura Isles do not belong to me.

A/N: I'm a life long Boston sports fan and I was routing for the Patriots last weekend, but I guess I should have known that it was too much to hope for a Patriots-49ers Super Bowl just because it would have worked nicely for this story.

This chapter is mostly Jane and Maura revealing things to each other. It has some information about how Jane got her scars and the Hoyt crime scene. It don't think it's too graphic. I changed a few details of the Hoyt encounter, largely because I think the changes make more sense for Jane's character.

* * *

Over the next couple of weeks, Jane and Maura spent more and more time together. At work, Jane continued to visit Maura in her basement offices. Eventually Jane realized Maura always ate lunch in her office. She convinced Maura that she could easily get her small salad from the cafe, promising her mother would make her whatever she wanted, and they started eating lunch together when they were both available.

Jane learned more about Maura's emotionally distant parents and a childhood filled with boarding schools and intellectual pursuits. Jane talked about growing up with her brothers and going to plumbing jobs with her father.

During this time the Red Sox were making their way through the playoffs. Jane would have liked to watch more games with Billy but the timing wasn't working out. She had to work all through their first series with Tampa Bay. The first two games against the Detroit Tigers had been on too late for him to watch. They did watch Game 3 together. It was a fantastic pitcher's duel with the Red Sox winning 1-0. But Jane thought it was a little boring to Billy. She remembered how when she was a kid, offense was the interesting part of the game, so she understood if he was bored. But the rest of series was all late night games again. She was going to have to convince Maura to let Billy stay up late to watch at least some of the upcoming World Series games.

One evening Jane answered knocking at her door to find Maura once again standing on the other side.

"I'm really sorry," Maura immediately said. "The medical examiner on call has a family emergency and there's a possible murder-suicide in Lynn and someone needs to go to the scene. I'm really sorry to ask, but could you watch Will while I'm gone. It should only take a couple of hours and it's his bedtime anyway."

"Okay."

"Really? Are you sure? I don't want to impose on you."

"Maura, it's fine. I don't mind," Jane assured her.

Jane went down to their apartment. Billy was already in his bed with a book. Jane looked in and said hello. Maura told him it was time for lights out and then spent five minutes telling Jane all the things she could do if he didn't fall asleep and what to do if there were any emergencies. Finally, Jane reminded her that she was a cop and that everything was going to be fine.

After Maura left, Jane took the opportunity to do a closer inspection of Maura's living room. She looked at the pictures on the shelves around the room, all of Billy at different ages. A few included both of them, but there was nothing that provided any clues to whether there was an ex-husband somewhere or if Billy's father was involved in his life at all.

Jane went down the hall and peaked into Billy's room. He was fast asleep. She closed his door and went to the end of the hall and looked into Maura's room. It was a stark contrast to her own bedroom, which typically featured an unmade bed and was strewn with dirty clothes. Maura's room was immaculately clean and, Jane noted, it smelled really good.

Jane went back to the living room, lay down on the couch, and drifted off to sleep. She woke up to the sound of the apartment door opening and heels clicking across the wood floor of the entryway. She sat up on the couch and tried to rub the sleep from her eyes. She heard Maura walk into the room and managed a husky, "Hey."

"Everything go okay?" Maura asked as she shrugged off her coat.

"Of course," Jane answered. She glanced at the clock and saw it was almost midnight.

"Thank you. Will you stay for a few minutes and have a drink with me?" Maura asked.

"Sure."

Maura briefly rested a hand on Jane's shoulder as she walked by and said, "Just give me a minute and I'll get us drinks. You can stay right there." Jane leaned back into the couch cushions as Maura walked down the hall, presumably to check on Billy, and then she went into the kitchen. A moment later she returned, turning off the overhead light and turning on a softer table lamp, before sitting down on the couch with a glass of wine and handing Jane a beer.

"Where did this come from?" Jane asked as she took the beer.

"You never drink wine, but I've seen you drink this kind of beer. I wanted to have some for when you come over."

Jane smiled and said, "Cheers," holding out her bottle for Maura to tap her wine glass against. "How did the crime scene go?" she asked.

"It was a mess. But based on the evidence at the scene it did look like a murder suicide."

"At least it was a straightforward case to get called out to."

Maura nodded. "Thank you again. Not just for tonight, but for the past two months, for all of the time you've spent with William. I think you've made this move a lot easier and enjoyable for him, and I know you have for me too."

Jane smiled shyly. "You know, a lot of people would say that I'm generally not very good company. I'm usually not very good at…talking," Jane said with a self-deprecating laugh.

"Neither am I," Maura said softly.

They lapsed into a moment of awkward silence until Jane said, "Can I ask you a personal and possibly inappropriate question?"

Maura considered and answered with her own question, "Can I ask you a question in return?"

"I guess that would be the fair thing to do."

"Okay. Ask me whatever you want to ask."

"I'm asking because I'm curious of course, but partly because I don't want to say something to Billy that could upset him or could be insensitive. Neither of you have mentioned anyone and I've been wondering if his father is in the picture?"

Maura wasn't shocked by the question. "I'm a little surprised you didn't ask earlier. Most people ask about my husband as soon as they know I have a child."

"It's really none of my business and it feels kind of rude to ask."

"I don't mind you asking me personal questions, Jane." Maura kicked off her heels, folded her legs in front of her, and leaned back against the pillows propped against the arm of the couch.

Jane watched her and the first thought that came to her mind was that Maura looked extremely kissable right now. Jane looked away before that thought could continue and waited for Maura to answer the question.

"Will's father isn't in the picture. Usually when people ask about his father I say I used a sperm donor. It's not technically a lie and it's common enough now that people usually don't ask a lot of follow up questions."

Jane raised her eyebrows. "Not technically a lie?"

"Well, anytime there is a pregnancy, a man does donate sperm."

"Wow, okay. That's true, I guess. But I'm assuming you didn't use like a sperm bank?"

"No, I didn't. I haven't actually told anyone what happened since I was actually pregnant, and even then it was only my parents."

"Maura, you don't have to tell me anything else. You already answered my question."

Maura shook her head and said simply, "I want to tell you," before continuing her story. "After I completed my pathology residency I spent a year in Ethiopia with Doctors Without Borders. I had a relationship with one of the other doctors while I was there. His name was Ian. We were in a completely remote location, working usually sixteen hours a day, and, probably because the situation was extreme in so many ways, in our free moments we had this very intense, passionate relationship."

Jane cringed internally but tried to maintain a neutral expression. This wasn't exactly what she was expecting to hear about, nor was it something she really wanted to hear. But, she supposed, this was the type of thing female friends talked to each about.

"It was almost entirely physical. We were using each other as a distraction and release from the stress of our surroundings. Not that I didn't like him in many ways, but I knew there no long term potential. Ian was, and still is, entirely focused on his work. He travels from one remote location to another, setting up clinics and bringing supplies. The only time he takes a break is when he travels somewhere to pick up more medication or other supplies. I knew when my year was done, I was leaving and that would be the end of it."

"So what happened?"

"A few weeks after I got back to the United States, I realized I was pregnant. It was entirely unexpected. I know nothing is one hundred percent effective, but we were always safe, so I was surprised and honestly a little embarrassed. At first, I thought there was no way I could have a baby. I wasn't in a relationship. I didn't have a job. But once I thought about for a little while I decided that it was a great time to have a child. I was thirty years old and there was no prospect of a long term relationship in the immediate future. I thought it might actually be easier to have a child early in my career. And Ian was the perfect sperm donor: smart, handsome, tall, healthy. So I had William and I think it was the best decision I've ever made."

In all the time they had spent together, Maura had never spoken so long about herself. Jane didn't want her to stop. "What about Ian? Did you tell him?"

"Of course. He wasn't easy to get in touch with though. There was no phone number or address I could reach him at. I sent him an email to an address I knew he checked when he could, but I didn't know how soon I would get a response. I told him I was pregnant and I was planning to have to the baby. And I said I didn't expect anything from him. I'll admit that while I waited to hear from him, some days I would have this silly fantasy that he was going to tell me he loved me and wanted us to be a family. But I don't think I even really wanted that, not with him anyway. I blame the pregnancy hormones."

"I'm guessing he didn't say that anyway."

"No. He didn't. I sent him paperwork to fill out and he gave up his parental rights. It wasn't contentious. He didn't try to sway me one way or the other about having the baby. I think he was just relieved."

"Do you ever see him?"

"He showed up a few times, with no warning, when William was very young. He wanted help restocking medical supplies and I helped him. I can't fault his commitment to his work, and as I said, I knew what I was getting into with him. The last time, Will was four, and I told Ian that I couldn't help him anymore after that and he couldn't visit anymore."

"So, Billy met him?"

"Sort of. I mean, when Ian visited it was mostly for a place to sleep. He didn't hang around long. I don't think Will would even remember Ian now."

"Has Billy asked about his father?"

"Not in any detail. In San Francisco he was around so many different types of families, I honestly don't think he's thought about it too much. Lots of his friends had single parents or two moms or two dads. But I'm not naive enough to think he's never going to ask."

"What are you going to tell him?"

"The truth. I don't know who my biological parents are or why they gave me up for adoption. I can tell him more than they told me. When he's ready to ask, I'll tell him everything I told you." Jane nodded at that, and Maura asked, "Do you want another beer?"

"No," Jane said reflexively but then said, "Yes."

Maura got up to refill her wine glass and brought Jane another beer.

Jane took a long drink from the bottle and then said, "So what's your personal question for me?"

"What happened to your hands?"

Jane's face darkened and her jaw clenched. She was honestly surprised by the question. She put the beer bottle down and moved her hands into her lap, balling them into fists.

Maura immediately regretted asking. "I'm sorry. That was too personal. I didn't mean to upset you. I was honestly just curious because based on the scars you have, it looks like you experienced a severe trauma to your hands and yet it doesn't appear that you experienced much loss of function or dexterity," she rambled.

Jane face changed from anger to confusion. "You actually don't know what happened, do you?"

"No. How would I know?" Maura answered sincerely.

"Someone could have told you or you could have asked one of the other detectives already."

"No, I haven't…I wouldn't ask anyone else personal information about you. Besides how would I ask anyone. I don't even know when your hands were injured."

Jane rubbed her hands over her face. "Damn," she sighed.

"Jane, I'm so sorry. You don't have to tell me anything."

"I'm not going to tell you all of the details about the case. If you want to read it on your own or ask someone else, you can do that. But I'll tell you what happened to my hands. If I don't, I know you're just going to keep wondering. And someday, someone will say something about it to you anyway. I'd rather you hear about it from me."

Maura kept silent as Jane took another long drink of her beer.

Jane cleared her throat and in a gravelly voice said, "We had a serial killer. Korsak and I were lead on the case, although everyone was working on it. He killed married couples, tortured and killed them. There was even DNA left at the crime scenes but we couldn't match it to anyone. Then we get to a crime scene and everything is the same, except the wife's body wasn't there. Everything else was absolutely the same, there was no way it wasn't our killer. So now we don't know if the wife is dead or alive and we are scrambling to find her. I was probably up for at least forty-eight hours straight."

"Then we get a call reporting suspicious activity at a house in Dorchester from a neighbor who said the house was supposed to be empty. Honestly, I figured it was just kids playing around or maybe squatters, but Korsak and I agreed to meet there to check it out. I was close by and got there first. I looked in the first floor windows from the porch and the place looked abandoned. But then I walked around to the back and I can see that there's a light on in the basement. There's paper over the window, but I can see light coming through. Then I hear something that sounds like a muffled scream."

Maura leaned forward as she listened, not taking her eyes off of Jane's profile as she spoke.

Jane continued, speaking more slowly now. "In the back of the house there was a door into the basement. I should have waited for backup but all I could think was that if our missing victim was alive I had to get to her as soon as possible. The house was pretty run-down and with two kicks I kicked the basement door in. Right in front of me there was a man standing over a woman who was tied up. Charles Hoyt was his name. I raised my gun at him and he just…smiled. All of the sudden there was movement behind me and before I could turn around something hit me over the head and knocked me out.

"There were two people. We only ever found DNA at the crime scenes from one man, but there were two of them in the basement. We don't know why they didn't kill this woman, why they took her or what they were planning to do next, but in the basement were mementos from their other victims, so we know they were our killers."

Jane stopped talking for a moment. During her whole speech she had kept her gaze focused on her lap and she kept it there. It had been almost a year since she had last recounted this story and even then she had only done it for the official police record. She hadn't told anyone else the story like this and she was surprised at how easily the words were coming out now to Maura.

"So he hit me and I fell. When I started to wake up, one of them used a taser on me so I couldn't move long enough for Hoyt to drive a scalpel through each of my palms."

Maura gasped and then quickly covered her mouth with her hand.

Jane swallowed thickly. "I heard noises above us, on the first floor. It was back-up. But Korsak came around back to the basement door like I had. Hoyt was kneeling over me and Korsak shot him. The other guy ran at him and Korsak shot him too. Neither survived. After that I passed out and the next time I woke up I was in the hospital." Jane took a deep breath and exhaled slowly, glancing at Maura for the first time since she began her story. "Okay, if you've got other questions, this is your chance."

"Can I?" Maura asked softly, gesturing at Jane's left hand.

Jane held it out to her and Maura gently took her hand in both of hers. No one other than her doctors and physical therapists had examined or touched her hands like this. Jane shook hands with people, preferring the slight discomfort that accompanied a firm handshake to drawing attention to her hands by refusing or avoiding shaking hands. But otherwise she avoided letting anyone see or touch her scars.

Maura leaned forward, closely examining Jane's hand. It gave Jane the opportunity to look at Maura openly. Her light brown hair was tied back in a ponytail but loose strands hung around her face. Usually at work Maura wore at least some eyeliner and lipstick. Tonight she wasn't wearing anything more than maybe some lip gloss. She looked beautiful.

"I'm amazed at how well you've healed in such a short amount of time," Maura said, finally releasing Jane's hand and looking up, finding that Jane was looking intently at her.

Jane made a noncommittal sound.

"My only question is why isn't Korsak your partner anymore?" Maura said.

"I was out for about six months while my hands healed. I couldn't come back until I could pass the firearms test," Jane said, holding her thumb and index finger like a gun and miming a shooting motion. "When I came back I asked for a new partner. Korsak will say he didn't want a new partner, but…I don't see how he could ever trust me after that. I screwed up and I could have gotten both of us killed. I don't know how he could trust me to back him up after I did something so stupid."

"You were trying to save that woman. It was heroic."

Jane shook her head. "But I didn't follow protocol. I put myself and the rest of my team, and the victim too, in danger. But look, I try not to think about it anymore. For six months it was all I thought about and now it's in the past."

Maura nodded. "I understand. Thank you for sharing that with me."

Jane stood and said, abruptly, "It's late. I'll, uh, see you at work tomorrow, maybe?"

"Yes," Maura said, standing as well to walk Jane to the door.

"And we need to talk about watching the World Series games."

"Okay. Goodnight, Jane."

Jane hesitated a second. After all of their revelations, simply saying goodnight didn't feel like enough, but she wasn't the type of person that just hugged other people and she didn't get the sense that Maura was either. So she just said, "Goodnight," and left.


	7. Chapter 7

**Daylight**

Chapter 7

Pairing: Jane/Maura  
Rating: T  
Disclaimer: Jane Rizzoli and Maura Isles do not belong to me.

_**A/N:** Thanks to everyone reading this story. I apologize in advance if this chapter is too baseball heavy for anyone. It's only the first half of the chapter._

* * *

After enduring some intense begging, Maura finally compromised with William for the World Series games between the Red Sox and the St. Louis Cardinals and allowed him to stay up an extra hour each night to watch the beginning of the games. By games 4 and 5, that had stretched to staying up an extra hour and a half to two hours as Maura found herself enjoying the games as well. She also enjoyed being able to discuss the games the next day with Jane and she picked up some of Jane's enthusiasm. For Game 6, with the Red Sox leading 3-2 in the series, she invited Jane over for dinner beforehand, and at Jane's prodding, agreed to allow Will to stay up for the whole game.

Jane came over as soon as she got home from work and took Will out front to play catch, this time with his new baseball glove. Maura watched them for a minute, but then excused herself to go make dinner. Will was pretty good at football but he was still learning baseball. Every time Jane threw him the ball, Maura was afraid he wouldn't put his glove in the right place and end up getting hit in the face. Instead of cringing every time he was catching the ball, Maura decided she would be better off inside.

Dinner was also kind of a compromise. Earlier in the week Jane had jokingly recited a long list of what she referred to as "game appropriate food," most of which Maura would not normally feed to Will or eat herself. But Maura decided she could make homemade pizza with skim milk mozzarella cheese and lots of vegetables and that would be close enough.

Jane and Will came inside just as Maura was taking the pizza out of the oven. "How did it go?" she asked Jane while Will went to his room to put his glove away.

"Good. He's getting better at catching and he's not afraid of the ball, which is good. Next summer he's going to do great at little league."

"Soccer still seems safer, but at least there's no tackling in baseball."

Jane resisted rolling her eyes. "Baseball has structure. Soccer is just a mob of kids running around after a ball."

"I suppose you have a point about that, although it does mean he gets plenty of exercise playing soccer."

"He's ten. Isn't his whole life exercise? He never stops moving," Jane joked.

"Very funny," Maura said as she handed two plates of food to Jane. "Go eat. Billy," she called, "come have dinner.

After eating, they all settled in the living room as the game got underway. Billy took his usually spot on the floor and Jane sat down on the floor as well, leaning back against the couch.

"So, have you decided who your favorite player is?" Jane asked Billy.

"Um," Billy said, and paused to think before listing, "David Ortiz, Dustin Pedroia, Jon Lester, and Jonny Gomes."

"Those are all good choices," Jane responded with a smile.

"Oh, and Jacoby Ellsbury," he added.

"Of course," Jane agreed.

From her seat on the couch, Maura asked, "Do you have a favorite player, Jane?"

"Well, I definitely have to agree with Ortiz and Pedroia. I really like Victorino too."

At the first commercial break, Maura said, "Will, have you decided on a Halloween costume yet?"

"I don't know. I'm still thinking," he answered.

"He's deciding between a baseball player and a football player," she explained to Jane and then said to Will, "Well, you've got one more day to decide. I think we have everything for both costumes."

"I think I'm going to be a baseball player," he said, and Maura smiled knowingly at Jane, knowing that his growing allegiance to baseball was almost entirely because of her.

"You know what you could do?" Jane said. "Wear a baseball uniform and a fake beard. Then you're like a member of this year's Red Sox team."

"Mom, can I?" he said excitedly to Maura and jumping up on the couch with her.

"Yes, as long as I have time to find a fake beard tomorrow," Maura answered, pulling him into a hug until he squirmed away.

"Do you want to come trick-or-treating with us?" Billy asked Jane.

"Oh, um, I'll probably end up working late tomorrow. Halloween tends to be a busy day for the police and I usually stick around headquarters in case anyone needs some help." It wasn't a lie. That was Jane's plan for Halloween, but it wasn't something she was obligated to do and she could have gone trick-or-treating. The problem was that Jane was afraid she was enjoying spending time with Maura and Billy too much. She could easily imagine them eating dinner and hanging out together every night. When she came inside today to find Maura making dinner she wanted to press her against the counter and kiss her hello. There were times when she thought Maura was wanted the same thing, but she wasn't sure and if she wasn't careful someday she was going to make a fool of herself. Trick-or-treating was the kind of family activity she knew she could get too swept up in.

"Well, if you change your mind, you're welcome to join us," Maura said.

Their attention shifted to the game when after two and a half scoreless innings, the Red Sox broke the game open in the third inning when Shane Victorino doubled with the bases loaded, giving the Red Sox a 3-0 lead, and causing Jane and Billy to jump around the room in excitement as Maura watched in amusement. During the next inning, the Red Sox scored three more times on four hits and two walks, which meant more jumping around. Maura joined in the celebration, high-fiving everyone.

The Cardinals managed to score one run in the seventh inning, but the Red Sox cruised through the final two innings to win the game and clinch the World Series. They could hear yelling and cheering from other apartments too as they celebrated. Maura's focus was glued on Jane as she danced with Will in celebration.

They watched a few minutes of the post-game celebration at Fenway Park before Maura told Will it was time to get ready for bed. He groaned, but didn't argue as he trudged out of the room towards his bedroom.

"Goodnight, Billy," Jane called after him, chuckling when she didn't get a response.

"These game nights have been fun, but he totally crashes at the end of each night and he's still half asleep when I drop him off at school," Maura said, sharing in Jane's amusement.

"It's worth it, and I bet all the other kids are in the same state he is, not to mention the teachers."

"Tomorrow he'll be full of candy by the end of day and excited from trick-or-treating, so he won't sleep tomorrow either. I'm looking forward to the weekend when he can catch up on sleep."

"Well, I'll go and let you get to sleep too. Thanks for dinner and having me over for the game."

"Of course."

Without really thinking about it, Jane stepped forward and wrapped her arms around Maura in a hug, only to pull back quickly in embarrassment when she realized what she was doing. "Uh, goodnight."

Maura didn't have to time to respond to the hug before Jane was already walking away from her. "Goodnight, Jane," she said, almost to herself as Jane left.

* * *

"Dr. Isles?"

Maura startled and looked up from her desk at the sound of her name, surprised to see Detective Frost standing in her office doorway. Only Jane came down for anything other than an autopsy, and Detective Frost hadn't come to any autopsies. As far as she knew, he had never come down to her basement suite of offices. "Hello Detective Frost, what can I do for you?"

"Uh, can I come in?" Frost said awkwardly.

"Of course. Please have a seat," she said, gesturing to the couch in her office and getting up to sit down in the adjacent chair.

Frost sat down and said, "I was hoping you could help me. I'm sure you already know that I get nauseous around dead bodies and, well, that kind of makes being a homicide detective difficult. I thought it would go away after a little while on the job, but it isn't getting better."

"Being sickened by death is nothing to be ashamed of. It shows you have compassion and empathy for the victims. Those are very important traits in a homicide detective," Maura assured him.

"That's nice of you to say, but I know if I really want to be good at this job, I have to be able to see the body. And, I really don't want the other detectives to call me Barf Bag Kid forever."

Although she hadn't heard anyone use that nickname, Maura could sympathize. "Just so you know, Jane respects you immensely. She said you were really smart and an expert with computers."

"She respects you too. That's actually why I'm here. It was her idea to ask you for help. She thought you might have some ideas on how to get over this."

"I think immersion therapy is your best option. The only way to get used to dead bodies is to have more experience with them. Does talking about the victim's bodies make you feel nauseous?"

"No," Frost answered, shaking his head.

"What about seeing pictures?"

"No."

"It sounds like you're already most of the way there. Immersion therapy for something like this can actually work fairly quickly."

"So what do I do?" he asked.

"We can start with a body before the autopsy is performed. You'll simply view the body for as long as you can before you feel ill. The next time you'll try to stay longer. We'll keep trying until it doesn't make you sick anymore."

"That's it?"

"Yes. That's it."

"Okay, I can try that, I guess. Are you sure it's not an inconvenience to you?"

Maura shook her head. "Not at all, Detective. I'm happy to help in any way I can. Why don't I let you know when I have autopsies scheduled and you can come when your schedule allows it?"

Frost nodded. "Thank you. I really appreciate your help. I'm going to meet Jane and Korsak for a drink at the Dirty Robber now. Do you want to join us?"

A number of times in the past couple of months Jane had invited Maura out for drinks with some of the detectives at the end of a case. Maura had always declined, citing her desire to get home to make dinner for William. But it was still early and it would be good to socialize with some of the other detectives. "Thank you, Detective Frost. I think I'll take you up on that offer."

"They are already over there," he explained. "I was going to head over now, but I can wait if you aren't ready."

"I need about five minutes."

"I'll wait for you. I'll meet you upstairs in the lobby."

Maura signed off on the report she had been reading when Frost came down, and then she went to the restroom. It was silly, she knew, to be so concerned about how she looked for a drink with her colleagues. Especially when she knew perfectly well that the person she wanted to look good for was Jane. Jane, who had seen her dressed up for work and dressed casually at home, and who didn't seem to care either way. Or maybe she liked both.

Maura wasn't sure what Jane liked, but she was sure that sometimes she saw Jane looking at her with what could only be described as attraction. So she was going to take an extra moment to make sure that she looked good. In the restroom, she checked her makeup, reapplied lipstick, and made sure her pencil skirt and sweater looked good.

She went to meet Frost and they walked half a block to the bar. Jane and Detective Korsak were already sitting at a booth. Frost asked her what she wanted to drink and went to the bar to order for them.

"Hey," Jane said with a smile when Maura sat down next to her. "It's a nice surprise to see you here."

"Detective Frost invited me. I hope you don't mind me intruding."

"Of course not, Dr. Isles," Korsak responded.

After Frost joined them with a beer for himself a glass of Chardonnay for Maura, Jane sat back and listened while Frost and Korsak asked Maura questions about herself and she did the same to them. This is what she had been hoping to accomplish for a while. After learning how the detectives in San Francisco called her Queen of the Dead, Jane wanted to make sure that the Detectives she worked with got to know Maura outside of the morgue.

Jane's attention had wandered off until she heard Korsak asking about Maura's living situation.

"The apartment we're in has worked out well so far. I'm going to start looking for a place to buy soon, though."

"You're moving?" Jane asked in surprise.

"At some point. I want something bigger and maybe with more of a yard. Maybe a neighborhood with more children for Will to play with."

"I guess that makes sense."

The conversation moved on to a discussion of what neighborhoods Maura might want to live in. After about an hour at the bar Maura said, "I should go home so I can make dinner for Will. But thank you Detective Frost, for inviting me. It was really nice to talk with all of you."

"Anytime, Doc," Korsak responded and Frost agreed.

"I'll walk you back to your car," Jane said, following Maura out of the booth. She glared in response to Korsak's raised eyebrow and Frost's grin after Maura walked away, effectively stopping them from making any comments Maura could overhear. "Settle down, guys. I'll see you tomorrow."

"Have a good night, Jane," Frost called after her.

Jane caught up to Maura outside the bar and said in a joking tone, "So you always decline my invitation to have drinks with us, but not when Frost invites you? Should I feel jealous?"

Maura stopped walking to turn to Jane and respond seriously, "It just happened that he invited me to join all three of you on a day when I was finished early. It had nothing to do with Detective Frost inviting me."

"I was joking," Jane said.

"I know that your tone was a joking one, but I still don't want you to think I was declining your invitation specifically. I probably wouldn't have come out tonight if you hadn't invited me in the past."

"Oh. Well, I'm glad you came. They're good guys, you know?"

"Yes, they are," Maura agreed. They resumed walking back to headquarters. "Can I ask you something?" she asked.

"Yeah, of course."

Since their late night talk a couple of weeks ago, neither of them had brought up any of the revelations they had both made. But after this evening, Maura was curious about something. "Even though you wanted a new partner, you and Korsak seem to be on good terms now. Is that true?"

"Is wasn't so much that I wanted a new partner, but I thought it was for the best for both of us. He was upset at first, but I think he understands my reasons. So, yeah, we're still close. With what we went through together, I think we'll always be close."

"That's nice," Maura said.

"Yeah, sure," Jane answered.

Outside of the police headquarters building, Maura stopped and said, "Jane, I'm sorry if you were surprised about my plan to move. I should have said something to you sooner, but we probably won't move until the spring or the summer."

"It's not really any of my business."

"Of course it is your business. I mean, we're friends and I don't have a lot of friends, so I don't know, but this is the sort of thing we should talk about, right? And you're important to Will too. He adores you. Moving is not going to change that."

Jane dropped and shook her head to hide her embarrassment at Maura's words. "That's all very nice of you to say, but it still is only my business to the extent you want to tell me."

"Well, I should really get home. Are you going home now?"

"Actually I've got some errands to do first."

"Will you come have dinner with us again soon?" Maura asked and immediately felt annoyed at how awkward the question seemed.

"Of course. And maybe football again this weekend or next."

"Yes. Definitely. Have a good night, Jane."

"You too, Maura."


End file.
